Viking Line set new passenger, car carriage records in 2017

JANUARY 4, 2018 — Åland, Finland, headquartered Baltic ferry specialist Viking Line carried the highest number of passengers in its history last year: 6,881,149 or nearly 6 per cent more than the 6,502,191 carried in 2016.

The number of cargo units was 127,668 (131,918) while the number of passenger cars (another all time record) was 762,253 (682,194).

The greatest increase in passenger volumes was on the Helsinki–Tallinn route, where capacity was enhanced from April to October. The volume on that route increased 15.7 per cent to 2,341,440.

For the Turku (Finland)–Åland Islands–Stockholm (Sweden) route, passenger volume on M/S Viking Grace and M/S Amorella was 1,885,643 (1,884,441) or 0.1 per cent more than in 2016. As M/S Viking Grace is LNG fueled there's probably another record somewhere in that statistic

On the Helsinki (Finland)–Mariehamn (Åland Islands)–Stockholm (Sweden) route, which was served by M/S Mariella and M/S Gabriella, 1,036,559 passengers (994,046) sailed during the year. That was a 4.3 per cent increase.

The Helsinki (Finland)–Tallinn (Estonia) route accounted for the greatest growth, with Viking Line offering 12 daily departures during the summer. The route was served by Viking XPRS as well as by Mariella and Gabriella in July. Viking Line met this great demand by adding a new vessel, Viking FSTR, or Faster, which served the route from April 10 to October 15. Viking Line transported a total of 2,341,440 passengers (2,023,119) on this route during the year, which was a 15.7 per cent increase. or a slight decrease of 0.1 per cent due to fewer traffic days in 2017. (The number of passengers who chose to sail on Mariella/Gabriella non-stop from Stockholm/Mariehamn to Tallinn was 4,549.)

On the short Mariehamn–Kapellskär route across the Sea of Åland, passenger volume on M/S Rosella totalled 722,269 (700,227), for a 3.1 per cent increase.

Passenger volume for M/S Viking Cinderella's cruises from Stockholm was 890,689 (891,212), due to fewer departure in 2017.

"Passengers benefited from our expanded capacity during the year, while the tough price competition has been advantageous to our passengers," says Jan Hanses, President and CEO of Viking Line.